Since 2012 Esprit (Private Engineering and Technology School) focuses on training directly operational engineers through an innovative pedagogical approach in particular project/problem-based learning (PBL). Esprit first-year students are often willing to embrace challenges, but these may not always align with what teachers have in mind given that they were, throughout the entire curriculum, as passive receivers. To better support first-year students and foster knowledge acquisition, performance, engagement, collaboration and the overall positive learning experience, Esprit organizes a yearly integration week named PBL0 from all specialties IT, electro-mechanical, civil engineering. It is also intended to facilitate students' transition to university life by combining fun collaborative activities and assisting them in settling into their new surroundings. In this context, the integration week has been designed to incorporate sustainability aspects in a project aligned with CDIO standards 3, 5 and 8 as guidelines and has been formulated to include active learning in its many forms, such as project/problem-based learning, case studies, small group discussions and oral presentations. This research paper will expose the designed scenario of the integration week and the various actions that students should take to gain the required knowledge. It starts with brainstorming to promote student recognition, followed by a design phase, which focuses on translating conceptual ideas into a concrete plan. This includes creating prototypes and selecting appropriate technologies. The third stage involves implementation, focusing on developing the desired output. The project concludes with an evaluation, where the best projects are chosen based on a criteria grid.
In this work, we will go over each stage of the project in detail and provide results discussion in light of how the integration week was perceived by the students.